The Taste of Blood and Unyielding Will
The pain radiating from my abdomen made it nearly impossible to stay conscious. It was the kind of agony that clouded the mind entirely. From the feel of it, several bones had shattered. And those broken fragments seemed to be stabbing and tearing through my insides in every direction. With my bones in that state, there was no way my muscles or organs could have escaped unscathed. The damage was so severe it hardly needed mentioning. To put it plainly—even without exaggeration—my body was little more than a tattered rag.
Getting reduced to this after taking just one hit felt unfair, but there was nothing I could do about it. After all, I’d taken a full-powered strike packed with mana while completely unguarded. Right before it landed, I had broken free from the restriction and desperately pulled up my mana to reinforce my body, but that had only been enough to deflect a portion of the damage. Given how wretched my body already was compared to a normal person’s even at its best, it was only natural that a single blow would leave me in this condition.
“…Ah.”
It hurts.
Moving this body wasn’t just overexertion anymore—it was self-inflicted torture. No, it went beyond that. It was practically begging for death. One wrong move and I really could lose my life. And yet, knowing all that, I forced myself to stand.
It wasn’t easy. Even that simple motion made my entire body scream. It shrieked at me, demanding to know what the hell I was doing and ordering me to stop immediately. But I ignored those cries and somehow managed to push myself fully upright.
And in that instant—
“…Cough!”
Blood sprayed from my mouth. Even at a glance, the amount was alarming. My vision spun. Whether from the massive blood loss or the terrible state of my body, I couldn’t tell. Probably both.
A low murmur rippled through the spectators. I couldn’t tell if they were buzzing because they hadn’t expected me to get up, or because my appearance was so gruesome. My ears were ringing too badly to make out their words clearly.
I slowly lifted my gaze. The destination was already decided.
It was where Julia sat.
She had risen from her seat and was staring straight at me. Her expression remained the same as always, but her eyes were trembling in a way I had never seen before. Was she worried about me? If so, that alone made me happy.
A faint, bitter chuckle escaped me at the unexpected surge of sentiment.
“Whoa, you actually endured that?”
A voice thick with amusement reached my ears. There was no need to search for its owner. In this situation, there was only one bastard who would speak in that tone.
Jerim Haluter.
The same bastard who had just driven his fist into my gut.
“I hit you with some real intent behind it, but you’re tougher than you look, huh?” He laughed. “Still… you look pretty bad. You sure you’re okay? In that condition?”
He asked with an almost concerned tone.
“You don’t look so good. Maybe you should just forfeit and get some treatment?”
“……”
Well, setting aside his mocking way of speaking, he wasn’t exactly wrong. Even if he wasn’t actually worried about me, my current state was indeed quite serious. The fact that I had managed to stand at all was close to a miracle given how wrecked my body was. If I pushed it any further, I might genuinely cross the line between life and death. No matter who I was, continuing the fight in this condition wouldn’t be easy.
Logically, the right choice was to give up the spar. My life wasn’t even on the line. In fact, nothing was at stake. If I surrendered? It would simply end there. My reputation? It couldn’t get any worse. No one had expected me to beat him in the first place. So whether I forfeited here or not, nothing would change. I wouldn’t lose anything. People would simply shrug and move on.
There was nothing to lose, and my body was in the worst possible state. By any rational standard, giving up was the correct decision.
But.
“Bullshit.”
I didn’t want to.
The reason was simple. I didn’t want to lose. I wanted to beat the crap out of him. He had insulted Julia. That was something I could never tolerate. I wouldn’t be satisfied until I saw him crawling on the ground.
“My body’s finally warmed up. What do you mean, forfeit?”
So instead of accepting defeat, I smiled at him.
“I told you before we started, didn’t I? A true master always gives the beginner a handicap.”
Ignoring the searing pain tearing through my body, I spoke in a perfectly calm voice.
“Giving up the first move wasn’t nearly enough. But this much of a handicap feels just right.”
His smile twitched ever so slightly at my words.
“…Hah, I’ll give you credit for that guts of yours.”
He was smiling as he spoke, but his eyes held no warmth whatsoever.
“From where I’m standing, you look like you’re in serious danger… but if that’s what you want, who am I to argue? Let’s keep going with the spar.”
He loosened up his body with exaggerated, showy movements. Then—
“Still, if you change your mind, speak up quickly. Otherwise…”
You might die.
Whoosh!
He charged again. Fast. Given my condition, he should have held back, but his speed was hardly any different from before. Since he wasn’t the type to be cautious, it wasn’t that he had let his guard down—he was simply that angry.
Soon enough, he closed the distance and threw a punch. Even though he was furious, a sliver of reason must have remained, because the force behind the fist was noticeably weaker than before. He probably realized that if he wasn’t careful, he really might kill me.
That worked in my favor.
I read the trajectory of his punch and moved my body. Dodging an attack whose path and timing I already knew wasn’t particularly difficult. In fact, I had done it perfectly just moments ago.
But now, the handicap was enormous compared to then. The handicap of a body that struggled to even breathe. My limbs wouldn’t move as I wanted. My mana refused to circulate smoothly. My vision was blurry, and dizziness kept washing over me. The difficulty had multiplied several times over compared to when my body was healthy.
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue inwardly. Even in this pathetic state, there were a few techniques that could instantly turn this situation around. But I couldn’t use them. Not with Julia watching. If I tried to use my real skills in front of her, that damned restriction would activate again. And that would be the end. There was no way he would miss such an opening.
Improvising something on the spot… probably won’t work either.
Modifying a technique on the fly… the chances of success were low. With Julia’s talent, she would likely see through even the slightest trace of its true nature.
No choice, then.
I clicked my tongue again and twisted my body with all my strength.
Ugh…!
The sharp pain in my abdomen intensified. The broken bones must have been gouging my insides. But I didn’t stop. Somehow, I barely managed to dodge Jerim’s fist.
However—
“You’ve gotten a lot slower, haven’t you?”
Jerim had seen my movement clearly. With the gap in our base specs already so wide, the way my injured body slowed me down made it inevitable.
“Then how about this one?”
With a voice full of laughter, he threw a punch from the opposite side. It was a light, casual motion. To him, it was little more than a probe. But even a light attack from him wasn’t light for me. Considering my current condition and the fact that his fist was once again aimed at my abdomen, I couldn’t afford to take even that.
I twisted my body again in a panic and barely avoided the blow.
He immediately leaped back, putting some distance between us.
“Wow, impressive. Dodging my attacks twice in that condition?”
From a safe distance, he looked at me with genuine-sounding admiration. “Looks like Victor didn’t lose for no reason.”
The admiration itself didn’t seem fake. But it brought me no joy. Being acknowledged by him wasn’t pleasant, and whether he was impressed or not changed nothing.
As expected—
“Still, I should probably wrap this up soon, yeah?”
Smiling, he settled into a stance. And then—
Swish!
His figure vanished in an instant. No, it didn’t vanish. He had simply moved. Straight toward me.
The speed was on a completely different level from the two previous leaps. In the blink of an eye, Jerim had closed the distance and was standing right in front of me. He threw his fist.
I can’t dodge this.
The certainty hit me instantly. If my body were in perfect condition, maybe. But at my current state, there was no way I could avoid a strike this fast. This was him moving at full power.
Blocking it was even more impossible. My body and mana in their current state couldn’t withstand the impact of that fist. Even if I somehow managed to block it, the shock would only worsen the wounds in my abdomen. And that would be the end.
In the end, there was only one choice left.
Instead of dodging, I threw my body forward—directly into his fist.
“……!!”
I saw his eyes widen. He clearly hadn’t expected me to move like this. Well, that was understandable. This was practically a suicide attempt. If I took his punch properly in this condition, I would die.
“You crazy—!!”
He must have realized it too, because he hurriedly pulled back the power in his fist, his face twisted in shock. Just as I had predicted. He had no intention of actually killing me.
And that was exactly what I had been aiming for.
I couldn’t deflect a punch thrown with his full strength—but if the power was withdrawn, it was a different story.
My palm brushed against his fist. At the same time, his arm’s trajectory shifted as if someone had slapped it from the side, naturally exposing his chest.
And toward that defenseless opening—
I drove my fist forward with every ounce of power I could muster.